The glulam beams that span the pool halls at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre are 37 metres long, and every one of them arrived from Austria in a single piece, with no splice anywhere along its length. That decision, taken so that no critical structural connection would sit above the water, is at the centre of the entry that has made the centre a finalist in the new Sports and Recreation category at the 27th Australian Timber Design Awards, to be decided in Sydney on 21 October, four weeks before it contests the Sport category at the World Architecture Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Designed by JPE Design Studio, Warren and Mahoney and Karl Winda Telfer for the South Australian Government and built by Sarah Constructions, the $135 million centre was completed in December 2025. It has already collected the City of Adelaide Prize for Design Excellence and a commendation for sustainable architecture at the South Australian Architecture Awards.
The entry, lodged by German engineered timber specialist HESS TIMBER, puts the structure at the centre of its case. The primary load-bearing system is timber, about 324 cubic metres of glulam and 108 cubic metres of cross-laminated timber, all spruce, accounting for 32 per cent of the superstructure. More than 50 glulam beams and columns, the longest 37 metres and supplied full length, span the main aquatic halls without a column, and the submission describes them as the largest beams ever used in Australia.
Pool halls are unforgiving places to hang a roof, and supplying the beams full length and precambered eliminated critical connections above the corrosive aquatic areas, which the submission says reduced both risk and cost. The connections that remain were designed to C4 corrosion requirements, the classification used for high-salinity and chemically loaded environments. About 3,130 square metres of prefabricated acoustic ceiling modules sit between the beams, combining structure, acoustics and finish, with moisture managed through sealed cassette modules and a SIGA Wetguard membrane above.
All major components were prefabricated by the HASSLACHER group in Hermagor, Austria, moved via Zeebrugge to Melbourne on roll-on roll-off vessels and then delivered to Adelaide, where specialist contractor Standstruct installed them.
Kyle Low, the Timber Development Association structural engineer organising this year’s awards, told Wood Central that South Australia is strongly represented in the 57-entry field.“We have some really solid representation from Adelaide too, with the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, the Tonsley Technical Centre and the Flinders Factory of the Future, which are brilliant projects.”
The centre holds a 50 metre, 10-lane indoor competition pool, a 25 metre outdoor pool, rehabilitation and therapy pools, water play areas and fitness and wellness spaces, with sprung solid maple sports floors in the level one program rooms. The all-electric building runs on no fossil fuels, with demand-controlled ventilation, heat recovery, a four-pipe heat pump system and a 450 kilowatt rooftop solar array.
The centre holds a 50 metre, 10-lane indoor competition pool, a 25 metre outdoor pool, rehabilitation and therapy pools, water play areas and fitness and wellness spaces, with sprung solid maple sports floors in the level one program rooms. The all-electric building runs on no fossil fuels, with demand-controlled ventilation, heat recovery, a four-pipe heat pump system and a 450 kilowatt rooftop solar array.
Sports and Recreation was added to the awards this year, a change Low said was made because so many timber sports halls now fit the category. The Adelaide Aquatic Centre is one of three finalists also shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival, alongside the Sydney Fish Market and the University of Tasmania’s The Forest. Winners will be announced at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on Wednesday 21 October.
